Belo Monte dam one among over 70 planned for Amazon

Albuquerque Express Saturday 17th April, 2010

A judge in Brazil has ruled that bidding for contractors to build a massive dam in the Amazon can go ahead.

The ruling struck down a previous ruling that may have delayed the bidding process.

The Belo Monte dam on the River Xingu in the Amazon will be the third-largest in the world when completed, and is a project that the government of Brazil says is integral to economic development.

Environmentalists and local representatives of indigenous people, however, say it will cause massive displacement of traditional communities and inflict huge damage on the fragile eco-systems of the area.

A group called Amazon Watch said in a statement that, "This dam is one of the most destructive projects ever undertaken in the Amazon."

The proposal to build a hydro-electric dam on the river has long been controversial; it was first raised in the 1990’s and then abandoned due to widespread opposition domestically and internationally.

If completed, the dam will provide electricity for 23 million Brazilian homes, and government officials say environmentalists are exaggerating, as $800 million has been agreed as the amount any company involved in the construction of the dam will pay to protect the environment.

Environmentalists say that’s simply a token effort, as over 500 square kilometers will be flooded and it’s impossible to put a price on rare and endangered ecosystems. They say it is especially difficult to know the exact knock-on effects that such massive interference will have for the area’s environment.

Another 70 dams are in planning for the Amazon region.